Thursday, June 2, 2016

How to Cook Nigerian Bitter Leaf Soup (Ofe Onugbu)

Bitter leaf soup is a soup prepared with the freshly squeezed or dried leaves of the ever green plant called Vernonia amygdaline.

Bitter leaf soup is popularly eaten by the Igbo speaking people of Eastern Nigeria, and The people of Cameroon. Called Ofé Onugbo by the Igbos, the Cameroonians call it Ndolé.

As would be expected, there is regional variation in how this soup is prepared.

Like most other African soups, this authentic African food sauce is prepared with fish, meat, snail, either in combination or singly, with added spices and other condiments.

We shall describe both recipes for ofé onugbo and ndolé, the Nigerian and Cameroon versions of bitter leaf soup respectively below. Whether you are a Nigerian single or married, wherever you live in, you can prepare your bitter leaf soup without having to take a flight to Nigeria or Cameroon.

Bitter leaf Soup Recipe

Ingredients

The following are the ingredients for Bitter Leaf Soup

1kg of assorted meat (Beef, ox tail, shaki, cow leg, goat meat)

I medium smoked fish

I big size stock fish

100grams grounded Crayfish

2 Maggi cubes

1 big sized onion

2 tablespoonfuls dried grounded red hot chilli pepper

10 tablespoonful of red palm oil

2 medium sized white cocoyam

Freshly squeezed or dried bitter leaf

Salt – ½ teaspoonfuls

1 tablespoonful of dried curry powder

½ teaspoonfuls of dried thyme leaves

10 cups of water

Servings: 5

Cooking Time : 90 minutes

Method :

Thoroughly wash the assorted meat in clean warm water. Put in a medium sized pot, add about a cup or two of water and two cubes of maggi seasoning or bullion cubes, half onion, sliced, salt to taste, little sprinkle of dried curry powder – about ½ tablespoonful, dried thyme leaves, and bring to boil for about 20 minutes.

Thoroughly wash the stock fish with sponge to remove any vestige of sand gain and allow to run under plenty of tap water. The stock fish is best soaked overnight to allow it absorb water and become tender. Cut the stock fish into servable bits and add it to the boiling meat. Allow to boil for 5 – 10 minutes.

Add the washed medium smoked fish, and allow the whole mixture of assorted meat, stock fish, and smoked fish to boil for another 5 minutes.

Now add about 4 cups of water into the pot of boiling meat and fish, and add about 1 or 2 tablespoonful of dried red hot pepper to taste and freshly squeezed or dried bitter leaf (3 to 4 balls of hand squeezed fresh bitter leaf, or 3 – 5 tablespoonful of dried bitter leaf. Allow to boil for 3 – 5 minutes.

At this point, add the palm oil, and already cooked and mashed cocoyam to thicken the soup. Where you can not get cocoyam a sprinkle of garri would do the same.

Add salt, and pepper to taste again, and allow to cook for 10 minutes.

Your bitter leaf soup is ready to eat.

Bitter leaf soup can be eaten or served with pounded yam or semolina or eba.

For the nutritional value and health protective properties of bitter leaf soup and bitter leaf, see the bitter leaf soup and bitter page.

You can cook and enjoy your bitter soup without needing to take a cheap flight to Lagos or Cameron.